Keep Dreaming
by The Feh
Summary: [Sequel to Past Dreams] When Mara left Hogwarts to spend the summer with Harry, she knew it would be wonderful. When she saw the Dursleys, she knew it would be fun. And now her second year at Hogwarts is beginning and she can't wait!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Summer Fun**

_Dear Hermione,_

_I'm really glad you and Ron are having some quality time semi-alone before Harry and I get to the Burrow in a few days. I'm so happy here, if you'd believe it! So is Harry, if he hasn't told you already. Alone, I'm sure both of us would be miserable, but between the two of us, we're giving those idiots hell. Wish us luck in driving them to the loony bin so we don't have to come back next summer!_

_See you soon,_

_Mara_

Mara rolled up the parchment and gave it to Mason. "Take it to Hermione at the Burrow, okay, Mason?" She petted the grey bird before watching it fly off.

"HARRY! MARA!" Dear God, that man made their names sound like curses. She was having fun tormenting them, but she couldn't wait to get out of here. Rolling her eyes, she stomped down the stairs, knowing it would make him madder.

"I told you, girl, never to stomp down those stairs!" He was definitely purple already.

"Fine, then. I'll use my broomstick next time." She stared him down, smiling sweetly. And she very well would. Her threats were _never_ empty. And he knew it.

He grumbled something like, "Stupid boy… bringing home a girlfriend…"

She raised an eyebrow, ready to defend Harry, when he came down the stairs quietly. She broke out into a smile. After hearing him grumble, she knew what she was about to do would really make him even angrier. Of course, she would have wanted to do it anyway, but… that was a plus.

"Hey, Harry," she said, just before kissing him. When she pulled away a little, she whispered, "I've been having some fun with your uncle while you were gone… He's gone about 5 shades darker since I came down." They both laughed.

"What did you want?" He asked his uncle, who had a face now the shade of eggplants.

"_I_ got a letter. From one of your friends, through the _postman_."

They exchanged glances. It was odd, and Mara had no idea who it could be from. Harry knew. He knew the address was Weasley, and the author was none other than Arthur, Ron's dad. He did love Muggle things…

"It's not from one of my friends. It's his father. And it'll be about Mara and my leaving to go to his house, in three days, until school starts. Just like every year."

"Yes, yes. Whatever you say. I suppose you'd like to read it, then?"

"I would," Mara said. "If you please." She snatched the letter out of his plump hands.

She scanned it. Harry was right. It was from Mr. Weasley, and they were to be leaving to come to his house… that night. _Wait a minute_, she thought. _I thought it was in a few days, not a few hours!_

"Harry…" She showed him that part of the letter. "We've miscalculated." She looked up at the eggplant-like man. "Sorry, Uncle," she said, grinning, knowing the nonchalant use of "uncle" coming from her would make him even madder. "It seems we're leaving in a few hours. Excuse us while we pack." Harry handed him back the letter, and they turned to the cupboard to gather their trunks. They trudged them up to their room.

Now, most people would think it scandalous for a boyfriend and girlfriend to room for a summer. But the Dursleys thought they were already… well, that intimate with each other, even though they weren't. So, the story had been that they were long-lost friends. That taking her in had been a favor to Harry's mother's memory.

And that the part about them kissing and such was because they had developed a relationship. Although, the Dursleys told their neighbors, they did not approve, and they had rooms on the opposite ends of the house.

They sickened her. She couldn't wait to get out – the only happiness here was Harry and, sometimes, annoying, angering, or scaring those idiots. And those little spells had gotten boring… except with Dudley. Using magic on the pig never lost its appeal. Especially when double teaming him. In their room, though, they found the annoying over-sized piece of bacon going through their things.

"Excuse me?" Mara asked him, leaning in the doorway. "What do you think you're doing?"

He quickly turned around at the sound of her voice – amazingly fast for someone of his size, actually. "I… I, uh…"

"That's what I thought. Now," she said, raising her wand and waving it, "Scuttle, scoot, remove, or else get the boot!" She made the phrase _sound_ like a spell, and the idiot _thought_ it was one. And, if his speed before was amazing… well, let's just say he got out of that room as if a snake were at his chubby heels.

"Or else get the boot?" Harry questioned, eyebrows raised.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Mara's eyes sparkled as she said this. "Besides, it got him out of here faster than the smell of frying bacon."

"When you're right, you're right." His gaze drifted to their trunks. "I suppose we'd better start packing, then?"

"When you're right, you're right," she parroted, and began stowing her magical items, books, and clothing into the large trunk. When she finished, she placed Mason's cage on top. She looked over and saw Harry, too, had finished. They sat on the bed. "Well," she said, "how long 'til we leave?"

"I'd say a good…" He glanced at his watch, but while he did, he heard a loud word come from his uncle. "Now."

"We're up here," she called down the stairs. She heard loud footsteps run up the stairs, and grinned at how it would be affecting "Uncle Vernon". She saw the twins and Ron. "Hi, guys!"

"Would someone like to explain why the gent downstairs looks so…" Fred started to ask.

"…Violently violet?" George finished. Or, at least, she _thought_ it was Fred and then George. One could barely tell with those two.

"Oh," Mara grinned, "I've just been tormenting him, the stick of a woman Harry calls an aunt, and that tub of lard they produced all summer. He's been that color since I got in their car after getting off the train."

The twins smiled approvingly, and simultaneously said, "Good job!" Ron and Harry just grinned.

"Well," Ron said, "let's get you and these trunks to home before there's an explosion." Harry nodded, and helped them. Mara would have, but… Well, for one, she was "a girl," as they told her, two, she wasn't needed, and three, she didn't really feel like it.

And soon they were on the way to the place they had first met the lively, dark-haired, blue-eyed girl.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Welcome Back**

Arriving to the Burrow was odd. Not because of the house, or the transportation, but because of what Mara saw awaiting them at the table.

Hermione was writing her back a letter, and Mason was waiting patiently on the table. Ginny was sitting there, writing a letter to someone, scribbling almost furiously. Either her current boyfriend had gotten on her bad side, or she was just really intense about that letter.

"I suppose I got the dates wrong," Mara said, grinning.

Her two friends stood up quickly, and they all started talking at once.

"I just got your letter, and—"

"I'm just so happy to see you both—"

"Did you two get to see the—"

They laughed. Mara held up her hand. "I'm so glad to see you two!" She gave a quick hug to each, and they started chattering again, this time where they could hear each other.

Harry, Ron, and the twins stared at them. "Oy," Fred said. "And I thought it was bad when it was just the two of them."

"It's like she doubles their energy. Like… she's double them," George said. "Well, boys, we'd better be getting these trunks upstairs. Not like your girls are gonna miss you for this minute."

"Yeah… Right," Harry said. "I'd forgotten they did that…"

"I'd forgotten how much energy they have when they were around each other… God, it's like they have three times the energy a normal person when they're all together," Ron, while they grabbed Harry's trunk, said. "It's inhuman, that's what it is."

"No. I think a lot of it is Mara." Harry shook his head. "I'm not sure how or why, but it's her."

When they came back down, the girls had calmed down – a little. They were sitting at the table now, talking slower, at a rate the boys could catch.

"Hi, Harry!" Mara smiled up at him. "Where've you guys been?"

Ron cocked a brow at the three of them. "_We've_ been carting up that trunk of yours. What'd you pack, a box of bricks?"

"Actually, since I knew you'd be carrying it, yes." She rolled her eyes. "Now, Ron, really. Why would I need bricks? Now, if you're referring to my books… They might weigh as much as bricks. Maybe you should buff up a bit," she added slyly. "I'm sure I could have carried it." He just muttered under his breath. Smiling, she added ego-injury to her insult. "Hermione, I bet you'd like it better if he buffed up a bit, now, wouldn't you?"

Hermione blushed, and then turned almost as red as Ron when Ginny shut her eyes and grimaced. "Hey, could you please _not_ insinuate stuff like that about one of our best friends, and my _brother_?"

"But, Ginny, why not? I mean, you and I both know—"

"Yes, I know! But that doesn't mean I want to think about it!"


End file.
